With House bill passed, local casino chances grow

Thursday

Apr 29, 2010 at 1:51 PM

By JANE LOPES

By JANE LOPES

Hathaway News Service

The odds for a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts may be better than they have ever been, given the fact that legislation to expand gambling has been passed for the first time by the state House of Representatives and the Senate seems likely to approve a similar bill.

At the same time, Middleboro officials are less confident than ever about the prospects for what was briefly viewed as the best chance for a casino anywhere in the Commonwealth: the casino resort project proposed for 539 acres of land in Middleboro by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. While commercial casinos are lining up for the licenses that will be issued by the state should the Legislature give its approval, the tribe is enmeshed in legal and financial issues. The details of the tribe's dilemma and its plans for the future are unclear, and a private meeting where information might have been provided to the Middleboro selectmen was declined last week (see accompanying story). But it is possible that the tribe, which has had talks with Fall River officials, could apply for a commercial license.

Earlier this month, the House passed legislation that would license two casinos in the state and allow up to 750 slot machines at race tracks including Raynham Park, the former dog track. The bill, overwhelmingly passed by a veto-proof vote of 120-37, went on to the Senate where it is to be the subject of roundtable discussions - and where it faces opposition from Senate President Therese Murray who, like Gov. Deval Patrick, favors licensing casinos but opposes slots at the race tracks.

Casino developers proposing projects around the state include the Northeast Resorts Group and KG Urban Enterprises in New Bedford as well as, potentially at least, the Mashpee Wampanoag in Middleboro or the Fall River/Freetown area. Fall River officials have also been talking to representatives of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Gay Head. The latter tribe had an agreement with the Weld administration in 1994 but the deal was rejected by the Legislature.

State Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) said he believes the bill that will eventually come as a result of legislative compromise could include provisions for a third special license - similar to what was proposed in 2008 by the governor - for a casino to be operated by a Native American tribe.

The casino resort proposed for Middleboro was planned to be built on sovereign tribal land, although the federal government is currently prohibited by a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision from taking land into trust for tribes that received federal recognition after 1934. The Mashpee tribe received recognition in 2007. While commercial casinos would pay license fees, taxes to the state and a portion of their profits, the state would have to negotiate a compact with a tribe planning to operate a tribal casino.

"(Expansion of gambling) would trigger the option and make viable the possibility of a Native American casino," Pacheco said, since tribes are authorized to conduct, on tribal land, any gaming that is allowed statewide.

"I haven't talked to (House Speaker Robert DeLeo) but I assume that's what they're talking about (a total of three casinos)," the senator said. "Everyone says the market can bear three."

The House bill does call for a state gaming commission to monitor tribal requests for land to be taken into trust, and to decide when the state should negotiate with a tribe, Speaker DeLeo told a group of business leaders earlier this month. He also told the Enterprise following that meeting that the recognizes the "tribal situation" in calling for two commercial licenses.

The senator said he believes the chances of a commercial casino in Southeastern Massachusetts depend on what the Mashpee tribe does.

In terms of market area, Pacheco said that while previous legislation has designated three areas of the state — Southeastern Massachusetts, the Boston area and the western part of the state — where one of three licenses would be granted, he believes the licenses should be granted based on what would maximize the revenue to the state and the particular region.

State Rep. Stephen Canessa (D-New Bedford), said the bill passed by the House also recognizes the needs of local communities in terms of the impact of a casino resort.

"One of the biggest concerns during the debate was the impacts on local communities," Canessa said, noting the bill included $15 million for communities in the vicinity of a casino.

"It's far too premature to guess, but I'm hopeful the process established by the Legislature will provide an opportunity for the Southeastern Massachusetts region to have a fair and equitable opportunity to apply for a casino license, and that anyone pursuing that has to work with neighboring communities," Canessa said.

"I think the competition will bring out the best of all proposals," he said.

Richard Young of Middleboro, former president of Casino Free Mass, said he believes it is entirely possible that in the end there will be casino resort licenses but no slots at the tracks.

Young, who is a member of the board of directors of CasinoFacts, said he has spoken to a number of senators and representatives who oppose granting slot machine licenses to businesses that voters have indicated, by ending dog racing, that they want to see closed.

"The feeling also is, why give licenses away without bidding them out," Young said.

Of the Mashpee tribe's plans, Young said he believes it is possible that the tribe could work with the Aquinnah Wampanoag on a joint venture, given the fact that the Mashpee tribe has an investor, the international Kien Huat group. Mashpee tribal officials announced plans for a new partnership last year, although the tribe is still working to sever ties with casino developers Len Wolman and Sol Kerzner, and an even earlier partner, Detriot casino developer Herb Strather, still holds the title to the land in Middleboro that has been planned for the casino resort.

"I think it's harder and harder for the tribe" to continue with plans for Middleboro, Young said. "They still don't have any mechanism for getting the land into trust and they don't have a great relationship with Strather, who owns the land," he said. "And the ($250 million worth of) infrastructure improvements in the agreement with the town essentially make the project unattainable now."

Young said he believes that the tribe's discussions with the state over the infrastructure improvements — which are limited to Route 44 and the Middleboro rotary in the tribe's agreement with the town — went beyond the immediate area of the proposed casino to include routes 495, 24 and possibly the more distant Route 3.

"One reason, I think, that the tribe has had conversations with the Fall River mayor is that they're being pushed that way," Young said.

The Senate is expected to spend the next month or longer debating the House bill.

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